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Trading Across a Continent is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on trade networks among Native nations before 1492, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Eco.4.3-5. It prints 7 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 9 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Trading Across a Continent

D2.Eco.4.3-5

NameDate

Draw a line from each trade good to where it came from. Then choose the best answers.

1.Draw a line from each one to its match.
  • Turquoise
  • Macaw feathers
  • Dentalium shells
  • Flint for tools
  • A.Quarries such as Flint Ridge in Ohio
  • B.Mines in what is now New Mexico
  • C.Birds traded north from Mexico to the Southwest
  • D.The Pacific coast near Vancouver Island
2.Why did farming peoples and hunting peoples trade with each other?
  • A.Neither had anything to trade
  • B.Both had exactly the same goods
  • C.Farmers had corn to spare and hunters had meat and hides
3.Why was obsidian valuable far from where it was found?
  • A.It was soft enough to eat
  • B.It glowed in the dark
  • C.It was rare there and made very sharp tools
4.What was Plains Indian Sign Language used for?
  • A.Sending messages by telegraph
  • B.Writing laws on paper
  • C.Talking with people of other nations who spoke different languages
5.What did many coastal peoples specialize in making to trade?
  • A.Iron tools
  • B.Shell beads
  • C.Glass windows
6.Why did nations trade goods with peoples far away?
  • A.Each region had resources that others did not
  • B.Every region had exactly the same resources
  • C.Trade was required by a king
7.What does it mean to specialize?
  • A.To make what you are best placed to make and trade for the rest
  • B.To make everything yourself
  • C.To stop trading

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.4.3-5 · Set 9 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Trading Across a Continent

Set 9. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Turquoise — B (Mines in what is now New Mexico) 2. Macaw feathers — C (Birds traded north from Mexico to the Southwest) 3. Dentalium shells — D (The Pacific coast near Vancouver Island) 4. Flint for tools — A (Quarries such as Flint Ridge in Ohio)
  2. 2.Farmers had corn to spare and hunters had meat and hides
  3. 3.It was rare there and made very sharp tools
  4. 4.Talking with people of other nations who spoke different languages
  5. 5.Shell beads
  6. 6.Each region had resources that others did not
  7. 7.To make what you are best placed to make and trade for the rest

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Eco.4.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.